United Nations, New York (Saturday, 20 March 2004) – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed his
 strong support for the initiatives of the Philippines to protect migrant workers and to promote the rights
 of women.

 “President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has placed the highest priority on protecting our migrant workers,
 preventing the trafficking in persons and in promoting the rights and interests of women.  Secretary-General
 Kofi Annan has also placed a high priority on these issues and has expressed his strong support for our
 policies and efforts in pursuing these issues,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert said
 today after her meeting with the Secretary-General.

 “I gave the Secretary-General an update on the actions taken by the Arroyo administration on behalf of
 migrants and women.  I also briefed him on our initiatives in the UN Commission on Human Rights,
 specifically the resolutions on the rights of migrant workers and violence against women,” Secretary Albert
 said.

 “He was particularly impressed when I told him that I was able to get the support of 20 Foreign Ministers
  whom I met with in Geneva during a High Level Special Session of Women Foreign Ministers last 15 March,”
  she added.

 “The Secretary-General has taken a very active interest in the issue of migrants and has made this a
 major priority of the United Nations,” Secretary Albert said, recalling that the Philippines supported
 the call of the Secretary-General for a global approach to the issue of migration (please see DFA
 Press Release No. 667-03; 24 November 2003). Secretary-General Kofi Annan made this call when he
 delivered the Emma Lazarus Lecture on International Flows of Humanity at Columbia University on 21
 November 2003. END.